Florida Cop Seemingly Can't Be Fired, Despite Long Arrest Record

German Bosque's arrest record reads like that of a serial criminal -- except he's a cop. And one that the city of Opa-locka, Fla., would like to fire, but seemingly can't, The Miami Herald reports.

Bosque, 48, who is a sergeant with the Opa-locka Police Department, has been disciplined, suspended, fined and sent home with pay more than any officer in the state, the newspaper reports. He has been arrested and jailed three times and fired at least six times.

Bosque, who's nickname is "GB," has worked for 16 different police chiefs in the nearly 20 years he's been with the force, he said. Currently, he is suspended from duty, yet still draws $60,000 a year to stay home and do nothing.

"He is a time bomb that has now exploded," the Herald quotes Opa-locka Police Chief Cheryl Cason as saying.

The report notes that Bosque isn't the only police officer in South Florida to "straddle both sides of the law," but suggests that the officer's disciplinary record and the city's inability to get rid of him are a study in how legal loopholes allow troubled cops to stay on the street.

Bosque has been accused beating juveniles, hiding drugs in his police car, stealing from suspects, lying, falsifying police reports and more. After each incident, he has been reinstated with back pay, and has bragged about his ability to manipulate a system that allows bad cops to stay certified even as they face criminal charges.

Incidents involving Bosque include one in which he admitted to striking a 16-year-old boy whose mother had called police during a confrontation with her son. Bosque took the youth into another room and punched him in the head without provocation, according to a complaint filed against Bosque.

"He was trash, he had gold grills in his teeth," the newspaper quotes Bosque as saying. "The kid is like a thug."

Despite his dismissals and his own run-ins with the law, Bosque says he still wants to be a police officer, owing some of his troubles to his own immaturity early in his career.

"I love being a policeman," he said. "I love looking in the mirror and the person I see."